


Solace

by MachineryField



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Just a trans man and a MLM finding solace in one another, Trans Male Shirogane Naoto, Transphobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:40:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27067276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MachineryField/pseuds/MachineryField
Summary: Kanji’s hands were balled into fists again, balled in anger and pain as he sat with Naoto. Naoto was used to this, he only did it around him, after Yosuke gave his usual comments.
Relationships: Shirogane Naoto & Tatsumi Kanji
Comments: 2
Kudos: 41





	Solace

**Author's Note:**

  * For [zanthe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zanthe/gifts).



> For my boyfriend because man... these two deserve to find solace in being forced back into the closet by a friend group that just doesn't *get it*

Kanji’s hands were balled into fists again, balled in anger and pain as he sat with Naoto. Naoto was used to this, he only did it around him, after Yosuke gave his usual comments. Those horrible quips that forced him further into the closet, further from a simple fact about himself.

Naoto knew what that was like, Yukiko reminding him that once again he was a  _ girl _ . It was simply because of how sexist his place of work was that he thought he had to be a man. Nevermind the discomfort he felt when he did not bind his chest, or when they called him a ‘she’.

Chie said he was just tricking himself, an uncomfortable gaze pointed at the ground. As if she was pushing her own feelings of being treated as something masculine onto him as they pulled him into shopping and Rise treated him as a fellow first year girl.

Kanji was the only one who didn’t have a problem still calling him a boy, calling him what he was. When they were with their other friends, he called him a girl as the others did, at Naoto’s request. They didn’t seem to understand who he was, and he didn’t want to try and teach them.

The closet was safer, quieter. It seemed the people around him weren’t ready for him to come out yet.

Kanji was in a similar position, Naoto was the only one he was really open with. He had told him he thought about making it clear to Chie that he was indeed attracted to men, ever since she told Yosuke to shut his mouth once. And he supported that, if it was what Kanji wanted.

For now, though, he placed a hand on his arm. “Whatever Yosuke-senpai says doesn't reflect who you are, Kanji-kun. You like men, and there isn’t anything wrong with that.”

Kanji looked back at Naoto, giving a small and shaky smile. “Thanks, man. Hearin’ that from you always helps.”

Naoto always felt a bit warm when Kanji casually referred to him as a man. He was good at that, treating him the way he wished everyone would. Sometimes he thought that if Kanji could understand, why couldn’t the others?

But then he would remind himself that not everyone was as forward thinking. They couldn’t accept a man who liked other men, how could they accept a trans man? Naoto supposed it would be silly to expect them to.

So for now, he and Kanji would take solace in each other. Understanding one another like no one else in this small town did, finding solidarity in each other. One day, they would find a place they could truly fit in, where who they were would be accepted and not be denied or turned into a joke.

But for now, that place was simply with one another.


End file.
